DENOSA wishes to take the violence against women & children bull by its horns.

16 days of Activism: From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s challenge violence against women

DENOSA wishes to invite all its members to actively participate in the 16 days of activism campaign by placing a white wrist band as from the 25^th of November to the 10^th of December 2012. Wrist bands are available at all DENOSA provincial offices.

Members are further encouraged to be whistle-blowers by reporting all forms of gender-based violence that is happening in their communities.

The 16 days of activism against Gender Violence Campaign is a global campaign dedicated to ending gender-based violence. It runs each year from November the 25^th: International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, to December the 10^th: Human Rights Day. The 16 days of Campaign is dedicated to:

• Raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue
• Strengthening local work around violence against women
• Providing a forum to develop and share strategies
• Demonstrating the solidarity of activists around the world, and
• Calling governments to account, respond, protect and prevent violence against women.

Why Gender-Based Violence?

“If we are to reap the harvest for peace and justice in the future, we will have to sow seeds of non-violence here and now, in the present”-Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

What is Gender-Based Violence?

Gender-Based violence is a pervasive human rights violation, a public health crisis and an obstacle to equality, development, security and peace. In 1993, the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defined violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”. The terms “violence against women” and “gender –based violence” are used to refer to the range of abuses committed against women and men that stem from gender inequality, beliefs about traditional gender roles, and women’s subordinate status in society relative to men.

Facts about Gender –Based Violence

• The World Health Organization estimates that at least one in every three women globally will be beaten, raped, or otherwise abused during her lifetime. In most cases, the abuser is a member of her own family.
• Research shows that having a small arm in the home increases the overall risk of someone being murdered by 41% for women in particular the risk was nearly tripled.

Campaign Dates

The 16 Days Campaign began in 1991 ,and uses the 16 days between International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women(November 25^th) and International Human Rights Day (December 10^th) to reinforce that acts of gender –based violence are human rights violations, and eliminating all forms of gender based violence is a human rights issue.

November 25^th: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

The campaign begins on November 25^th to call for increased attention to gender-based violence. This date was chosen in honour of the Mirabel sisters, who were assassinated in 1960 by the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. In 1999, November 5^th was officially recognised by the United Nations.

November 29^th: International Women Human Rights Defenders Day

This is a day to recognize women human rights defenders, and commemorate activism, advocacy and courageous acts of resistance.

December 1^st: World AIDS Day

December 2^nd: International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.

December 3^rd: International Day for Disabled Persons

December 6^th: The Montreal Massacre

In memory of the 1989 gender-based murder of 14 female University of Montreal School of Engineering students.

December 10^th: Human Rights Day

This is a celebration of the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights .The Campaign uses Human Rights Day as an opportunity to commemorate the signing of this historic document and promote the principles that it embodies.

2012 Campaign Theme: From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!

The 2012 16 days campaign will continue with the global theme: From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!

Militarism remains a key source of violence for women. As an ideology that creates a culture of fear, militarism supports the use of violence, aggression, and military interventions for settling disputes and enforcing economic and political interest. It privileges violent forms of masculinity, and presumes that violence is an effective way to solve problems. Militarism often has grave consequences for safety and security of our society as a whole, including women, children and men.

2012 Campaign Priority Areas

1. Violence by State Actors

Governments and state actors use violence to achieve political goals, passing of violence and intimidation as “security” measures, often with no consequence.

2. Domestic Violence and the Role of Small Arms

Domestic Violence continues to be a reality worldwide and becomes even more dangerous when small arms (e.g. guns, spears, machetes, etc.) are present in the home.

3. Sexual Violence during and after Conflict

Sexual violence is used to reinforce gendered and political hierarchies, and used as a weapon to punish the other.